15 Keys to Murder
by Little-Cheshire-Alex
Summary: She left Twilight Town three years ago in hopes of protecting her friends from danger, as well as effectively hiding the keys as she was told to. Now she has to retrieve the keys, but to do that she'll have to kill the people she loves most.
1. Prologue

**A/N: **Alright this is the first actual story I've ever submitted for other people to read...so please don't kill me. This is only the prologue. The rest of the story is still in progress.  
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Disclaimer:** I do not own these characters, I only manipulate them.

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A cold, sinister wind blew through the streets of Twilight Town. A month had passed since everything had changed. The once busy streets were empty, giving the appearance of a ghost town. The residents stayed hidden inside houses for fear they would be the next to fall prey to _her_. That devil in disguise, the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing. Her innocent face and sweet act had fooled them all as she stained her hands with the blood of people she had once called friend. As the sun began to sink low on the horizon, she walked towards the cliffs and looked down over them to the jagged rocks below. A single key hung from a chain that she held in her shaking hand, it was number 15, the last of the bloody keys, and it had cost her everything she held dear to retrieve it.

"I-I can't live with your blood on my hands…I just can't….Riku…Sora…and even Namine…I didn't want you to get hurt…" She said to herself as tears fell from cold, almost lifeless blue eyes. She closed her eyes tightly, "I…shouldn't have let this get so out of hand…" A shaking hand raised the key; stained in the blood of the people she had been closest too, up to eye level. She lowered it again, unable to bear looking at it, and found herself standing at the edge of the cliffs. Eyes closed tightly again, she remember what had started all this, causing her to hug her coat close to her body, but not from the cold.

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**End Notes:** Well that's it. Any constructive criticism is welcome. Sorry this is so short but I didn't want to give anything away just yet.


	2. When it Rains it Pours

**A/N: **Okay so here goes with the first chapter. I know it's not really expected but it's all in the plot. Hope you enjoy.

**  
Disclaimer:** I do not own these characters, I only manipulate them.

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It all started about a month before, just before sunrise. She walked into Twilight Town and took a deep breath; everything still looked exactly the same despite the changes that had taken place in the three years she had been away from home. She heaved a sigh and walked towards the house she knew belonged to the person she had come to see. The chill autumn wind blew as it threatened to rain, how appropriate for his dying day, rain. She smirked as she walked towards to the door to the apartment complex.

Two flights of stairs later she reached his door and knocked hard enough to make the brass '8' on the door swing from side to side. She clutched a key in her hand before sliding it into her pocket and knocking again.

"Axel!" She yelled loudly, "Answer your door!" A loud, annoyed sounding groan was the only reply before the lock clicked and the door opened. "It's about time Axe- Roxas?" She said as a very, disheveled looking Roxas answered the door.

"He's still in bed…who are you exactly?" He asked, yawning, "Do you have any idea what time of day it is?!" He asked, now sounding upset. He reached for the hood that concealed her face but was only met by a hand stopping him and harshly throwing him back. He toppled to the ground, head slamming into the table, and was rendered unconscious as the girl stepped over him.

She walked down the hall, looking in each room until she found Axel's bedroom. A smirk crossed her features and she crossed the room soundlessly. Small hands wrapped firmly around one ankle and Axel found himself lying on the floor.

"What the hell?!" He yelled, startled and angry, "Who the hell are you and why are you in my room?!" He added jumping to his feet as his ankle was released.

"Now, now Axel…you have something that belongs to a friend of mine…and if he doesn't get it back he won't be happy…so hand over the key…I already know you have it." She said, her voice familiar to him, though he could figure how so. Before he could think he was on the ground, small hands around his throat as he gasped for air and then finally passed out.

As Axel slowly started to come to his senses, he dully noted that he had been tied up and blindfolded, and that he was quite obviously somewhere other than his room. It was cold and the air smelled musty and damp, like a basement or a prison cell. The eerie silence, save for the sound of a steady metallic clinking noise somewhere distant unnerved Axel and scared him. At first he had thought maybe it was some type of game Roxas had come up with, but something told him this was no game.

A laugh snapped Axel out of his trance and he pulled at the ropes binding him down as his stomach churned, making him feel sick. He strained against the bonds again but only made them get tighter, cutting into his wrists a little. He winced and started shaking when he heard footsteps coming near him.

"Wh-who's there?!" Axel stuttered, his voice betraying the fear he'd been trying to hide. He swallowed hard, "Where are you?!" He said; any semblance of courage now gone from his quavering tone. He jumped as there was another laugh, this time closer, making his blood turn to ice.

"Axel…I thought you weren't afraid of anything…death, danger, nothing fazes you…" as the girl spoke, Axel shuddered visibly, "Or is that only when you have a crowd?" She asked, voice growing darker. A sharp scream filled the silent room as Axel felt something sharp puncture his arm quickly before being withdrawn again.

"Why…why are you doing this?! What have I done to you to deserve this?" He asked pain evident in his voice even as it shook from fear.

"Me? You've done nothing…it's my boss who holds a grudge on you Axel…you have something that belongs to him. The key Axel….hand over that key or else…" Axel screamed loudly as she rubbed salt into the bleeding wound, making it burn painfully and open more.

"T-the key is…it's in the box…the box I sent with the others." He said, "I don't have it anymore..." He said shaking as he felt something sharp and painful drag down his stomach and prepare to pierce, making him shudder and try to move. The ropes on his arms tightened and he screamed.

"No lying Axel…you do still have it…lying is against the rules of this little game…and those who break the rules," She said, slowly cutting into the skin of his chest and stomach, "Get broken themselves."

Another scream tore from Axel's lips as he felt tears soaking into the black cloth over his eyes. "I can't tell you…I made her a promise before she left." He said as he felt flesh peeling from muscle and he screamed again. "A-and I…never break a promise." He said, as he felt white hot pain and smelled burning skin and muscle "N-E-V-E-R Got it memorized?" He managed to say.

"Shut up you…that girl is long gone…tell me where that damned key is or I skin you alive." The girl said, seeming shaken.

"It's hidden…in my room." He said as he felt the skin peel back farther and begin to rip from his back, bleeding profusely. The pain faded as he finally lost consciousness from the amount of blood he had lost.

"That's more like it…" She said, smirking as Axel went limp. "Now I'm going to see if you're telling the truth…"

'And if he lied to me…he'll be dead by nightfall.' She thought to herself as she walked away.

Axel stirred again after she had left but didn't struggle to escape, too weakened to even lift his head. He shiver as he heard the rain very faintly hitting a roof that had to be several floors above.

'I-I'm going to die here...tied up somewhere I haven't the slightest where is…alone…and I never got to say goodbye to…' His thoughts halted, and he gasped. She was going back to search for the key, and Roxas was there, alone.

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**A/N:** Well there you have it. A nice violent first chapter, but so many things left up in the air. Will Axel survive? And what about Roxas? What's going to happen if there is no key? Will he be the one who meets the mystery girl's wrath? And who is that girl? All will be answered with time.


	3. Suprise Suprise

A short recap:

Axel has been kidnapped by a mysterious girl who seems erieily familiar to him and has been severly tortured and beaten into giving telling the location of a key. She has left him, bloody and dying to retrieve said key from Axel's apartment where Roxas is alone, and still unconcious.

Now on with the story….

As the relization that Roxas was alone and in quite a bit of danger hit Axel, he raised his head a turned his head blindly around the room, his vision still obscured by the blindfold. He sighed heavily and took a breath, knowing that, given the amount of moisture in the air and the fact that it could only get worse with the rain, this was going to hurt. With a snap of his shaking fingers, the ropes burst into flames and quickly fell to the floor. Axel shuddered harshly as he very slowly, shaking badly got to his feet and pulled off the blindfold.

"No way in hell she's hurting Roxas…not if I have anything to say about it." He said as he started to limp towards the stairs, blood still pouring from the open wounds on his body. As he reached the first step, Axel fell to his knees and let out a painful hiss. From the floor, he look up the stairs and shook his head in an attempt to clear the severe, blood loss enduced bluring of his vision.

'I can't move….my body can't take this…there's no way I can…' His mind raced for a moment and then, Axel fell unconcious, bleeding onto the floor, knowing that he may well never wake again. But as he closed his eyes, he would swear that there were footsteps coming towards him, that someone was there.

Meanwhile….

She rumaged through all of Axel clothes and through everything in the room until she found a small, silver key. It was old and had a small red jewel in the center on the top. As she stood and looked at the reckage she shivered a little and turned with a start to see someone standing in the doorway.

"W-who's there?" She asked, quickly pulling her hood, which had slipped off in her tireless searching, back over her berry-red, mid-length hair. She turned to find a very confused Roxas.

"H-hi….I'm Roxas. Who are you? And….where exactly are we…what is this place? It's a mess…" He said in a tone far from his normal, much more friendly.

She sighed as she realized that the bump to the head when she attacked him must have caused him to lose his memory.

"This is Axel's apartment Roxas. And who I am is of no concern to you right now…." She said, "I'll take you to your friend Sora's place…he'll be able to help you."

"Sora…like my name only without an 'X' and in a different order…" He said with a nod, meaning it made sense but he wasn't sure why.

Silently she led Roxas to Sora's house and knocked on the door, tucking her cape and hood into her bag quickly. As the door opened there was a surprised gasp from the other side of the door.

"K-Kairi? Is that you?" Asked the surprised voice of Sora before he took a good look at her and nodded, "It can't be anyone else with those eyes….why'd you come back?" He asked.

"You got it!" Kairi smiled and nodded, "I just came back for a little visit…I went to visit Axel but when I got there his door was wide open and all the rooms were a mess and then Roxas scared the hell out of me when he snuck up on me. He can't remember anything…like he hit his head or something…." She stated, internally wincing.

Roxas raised an eyebrow at this girl, Kairi she had said her name was. She had said that she had just gotten there when he snuck up on her, but he seemed to recall that she had been there a long while before, even been the one that made the mess while searching for something. He shook his head a little and sighed. He might well be a mistaken after all.

Meanwhile back with Axel….

Axel started to slowly come back to his senses as he felt a moist cloth being dabbed on his face lightly. There was a startled gasp when his eyes started to drift open. He blinked once to clear his still blurry vision and found himself in a clean white room that he was sure seem almost too clean and white.

"W-where am I exactly?" He asked his voice hoarse and very light. There was no answer though, nothing but absolute silence. He shuddered a little and looked at himself, he had been cleaned and bandaged and was laying in a bed. He shook his head a little laid back down again, too tired and shakey to really care where he was. Anything was better than the hell that was the room he had been held in.

"Just rest now, I'll explain everything later." Said a female voice, somewhere in the distance as Axel fell back to sleep.

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**Alright so here's chapter 2, Axel has escaped and Roxas is safe from danger for now, but wait...who is it that saved Axel exactly. And Kairi?! She's the psycho? That's all for this time. Hope you liked it.  
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